Porn and the Postal Service

More than a decade ago, a French artist and photographer named Philippe De Jonckheere protested American censorship of the arts by mailing letters to himself. The catch? The envelopes he used were transparent and the erotic photos that he'd placed inside the envelopes were clearly visible. In the end, 24 of the 25 letters were successfully delivered by the US Postal Service and since the USPS is a federal agency, De Jonckheere made a subversive statement about attempts to censor erotic artistic expression. Given the current political climate, De Jonckheere's art is as relevant as ever: we can't help but wonder if he'd be as successful in 2004 as he was in 1990. (R.S.)

Mail pornography [bonobo.net, via Emmanuelle]
Update: Philippe De Jonckheere writes in to tell us that he just put the entire collection of letters/envelopes on the web. Fantastique!